This entry explores the conflictual relationship between the secular state, official religion, and so-called neo-traditionalists in the Caucasus, as well as the emerging tensions within the Muslim community between Sunnis and Shiʿis.
Neo-traditionalists/Wahhabis
After 70 years of enforced atheism and isolation from the rest of the Muslim world, Soviet Muslims were left with a very low level of religious knowledge. Nevertheless, the end of…